


An Apology Only Goes So Far

by Justcannibalthings



Series: Charlie x Louis [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Arguing, Domestic Disputes, Emotional Hurt, Infidelity, Insecurity, M/M, Minor Violence, louis is just so done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 17:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13956618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justcannibalthings/pseuds/Justcannibalthings





	An Apology Only Goes So Far

Charlie was stressing out, as usual. He was supposed to have a meeting later on top of everything else, but Louis had decided to take that over to give Charlie a chance to catch up on everything else. He had a sizable pile of paperwork on his desk which he was only about a quarter of the way through. Oh, the joys of running a company. Still though, his bank balance made it worth it. He was contemplating jumping out of the 9th floor window, when someone knocked on his door- this pissed him off for two reasons; 1. He had a secretary to stop people knocking, and 2. He had told her not to let anyone in. Charlie was about to tell them to fuck right off, when they decided to walk through the door anyway. It wasn’t someone Charlie was particularly close to, but he made a point of knowing all the staff- this was one of the interns; Charlie was pretty sure his name was…zack? Jack? Something like that. “Why knock if you’re just gonna walk in?” Charlie queried, putting his pen down and twisting his wrist now he had a break from signing. “Sorry, I just wanted to speak to you.” Charlie made a humming noise “About what?” Jack, which Charlie was now sure was the guy’s name, leant on the desk, dragging one finger over it absently “I know you’re my boss and everything but I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink?” Charlie blinked at him; for starters, he made a point of hiding his homosexuality, and for seconds, he was married. Charlie stood himself up, walking over to the door and gesturing dramatically to it “Hard pass.” Charlie decided it was best not to look at him; he was suddenly very aware of how uncouple like him and louis were. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d even kissed was. Jack was in front of him when Charlie looked up, and it took him by surprise. “Sure?” Charlie took in a long breath, nodding loosely. “I don’t think you are.” Jack pushed Charlie against the wall, which he was wholly not expecting and attached their lips. Charlie would be lying if he said he resisted for more than a second. It felt good to have someone else’s lips on his; teeth, tongues and desperation. He rested a hand on jacks back, sliding the other into his hair and pulling him closer. He was unaware of the rest of the room; it had all faded off. Charlie was enjoying himself plain and simple. It was only when he felt Jacks hand sliding to his belt that he processed what he was doing, and gave him a hard shove. “No, no. No no no. Get out my office.” Charlie kept his eyes on the floor, and pulled the door open. Jack looked confused, but exited the room without a word and Charlie pushed the door closed before sliding down it. He felt sick, a genuine stomach churning nausea. He put his head in his hands, and pulled his knees up. He wasn’t one to have breakdowns, he had always kept his composure and taken his frustrations out on other people in the form of snide remarks. This was bad though, this was so bad. 

 

Charlie was sat on his desk when louis returned, about half an hour had passed since what Charlie had decided to call ‘the incident’ and he still felt just as sick, if not more so. “Working real hard” Louis said, noting Charlies position and looking back down at the papers in his hand “yeah…having a break.” Charlie muttered, looking at his partner, who was scanning through the papers he had brought in. Louis was a good-looking guy, and he’d been nothing but patient- he had put up with a lot of Charlies shit over the years. Charlie wasn’t sure if he should tell him. “Right, well I have a couple things I need to amend in this and then I'm free to help you with the mountain you seem to have done none of.” Louis walked over to his desk and was about to sit down when Charlie spoke “I just made out with an intern.” Louis shifted his head slightly, looking at Charlie with a raised brow “What?” Charlie took in a breath, running a hand over the side of his neck “It just happened, they asked me if I wanted a drink and when I said no he just…” Louis stood himself up straight, folding his arms “Wait you’re not fucking with me? Charlie what the fuck?!” Charlie furrowed his brow “Don’t act like it’s all on me! I have needs, alright and we barely fucking speak so I don’t know what you expect from me” Louis cut him off mid-point “it IS all on you! Are you fucking serious? I have been fucking begging you to communicate with me for fucking years, Charlie! If either of has a fucking excuse to cheat it’s me, but unlike you I actually seem to fucking take marriage seriously!” Charlie stood himself up and started moving his hands around as he spoke “I know I fucked up but don’t act like it’s all on me! I’ve told you before I haven’t felt right and Jack gave me more attention in five minutes than you have in as many years!” Louis blinked at Charlie, before exiting the room and walking down the corridor at a swift pace- Charlie followed after him “Louis! Louis! Where are you going?” Louis ignored his partner, rounding the corner and stepping into one of the group offices. He walked over to jack’s desk, brought his fist up and swung it at him; letting all of his weight go with it. Jack slid off the chair and looked at louis with a mixture of anger and confusion “What the fuck?!” he screamed, touching his own face and looking at his hand to check for bleeding. “You’re fired. Get out.” Louis glared at him with dark eyes that warned him not to argue, and turned himself to Charlie, before pointing down the corridor “Office. Now.” Charlie dipped his head and walked to the office, closely followed by Louis. 

 

With the door closed behind them, louis walked over to his desk and sat atop it before looking at his partner. Louis looked down at his own hand, and took his wedding ring off; he had a tan line. He held the ring out to Charlie “Take it or talk. And I mean fucking talk, no more bullshit Charlie, no more skirting around what your actual problem is. It’s your turn to beg, it’s your turn to panic. I haven’t even heard a fucking APOLOGY” Charlie nodded at him, and sat down on his own desk. “I’m sorry. I really am, I didn’t even register what I was doing, which sounds fucking stupid and I always thought people were lying when they said that.” Louis nodded his head lightly, he hadn’t put his ring back on, he was just fiddling with it while he listened to his husbands piss poor attempt at communicating. “I push you away don’t I? I know I do, I mean I don’t really think about it anymore. It isn’t you, I just hate…” Charlie ran his hand over his face, massaging his temple “I Can’t even say it’s being gay I have a problem with because I wouldn’t have done that. There's just something fucking wrong with me, it’s like I enjoy fucking myself over. I'm really bad at this aren’t I?” Louis shrugged loosely “Please talk to me, you’re the one who does the talking louis that’s how this works.” Louis looked up at him with a raised brow “Except it isn’t working, is it? Because you aren’t giving me anything back. You’re right, there's something fucking wrong with you because I’ve been nothing but fucking blindly patient and loyal for this entire marriage. We have a daughter Charlie. I'm cool with us not sharing a last name, I’ve never particularly given a shit about that but we share a house, and a bank account, and a fucking CHILD. I shouldn’t have to beg you to talk to me. You know you can sit there and tell me you want to be more intimate and all these bullshit lines but all you do is push me away. It’s like you aren’t even aware you’re doing it. I tell you I love you, you call me gay, I try to kiss you, you pull away from me. I'm genuinely not even sure if you love me. I don’t even think you know. Do you know how that fucking feels?” Charlie shook his head loosely “I don’t. Know how that feels, I mean. I…I do love you louis, I just feel uncomfortable saying it.” Louis shrugged “I don’t care if you feel uncomfortable, I need to hear it every so often. Or at least not be insulted when I say it to you.” Charlie nodded at him “And we’re going back to couple’s therapy. And you’re going to put all of your fucking being into it, not just sit there in silence. If you care even a fucking ounce about us then you’ll try.” Charlie nodded at him “I've really fucked us up haven’t I?” Louis nodded “Yes. Yes you have. Come here.” Charlie stood up, breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw louis putting his ring back on and walked over to his partner. Louis gave him a hard slap, the sound ringing through the room as Charlie clutched his face “Jesus fuck!” Louis took no notice of Charlie’s pain, and took his chin in his hands “This belongs to me, you promised me that when we got married and so help me god if you do this again it’s over Charlie. I'm not a doormat, and you’re lucky I'm giving you one more chance because every fibre of my being wants to throw you out that window and tell Amelia you ran away so she wouldn’t miss you.” Charlie blinked; slightly concerned by louis statement, but gave a small nod. Louis pulled Charlie’s head down and gave I'm a somewhat aggressive kiss, sliding the hand from his chin into his hair. Charlie took a small step closer, putting his own hand on Louis’ neck and enjoying the kiss; he knew he wasn’t forgiven, this was just louis being possessive, but he would take it. He was going to try, because Louis was right; he deserved a lot better and he needed to make sure he knew he was appreciated. Besides, he was a much better kisser than Jack.


End file.
